Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta

That was mostly predictable, but mostly in a good way. Mostly. Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta could be a poster child for any number of phrases: a mixed bag. Scratching the surface. Leaving a lot on the table. In sum, there’s an awful lot that can be picked apart with […] Read more

It’s not every anime that reaches the end before it reaches the end. I confess I thought going in that this was the final episode of Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta, so it was rather a surprise to discover it was coming back next week. That certainly helps, given that […] Read more

As confessions go, that was certainly emphatic. I think I’ve figured out why Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta often seems to work better as a series than it “deserves” to – why all the exasperating logic holes and sexism and overzealous foreshadowing can’t quite sink the dreadnought. Inside this deeply […] Read more

I don’t mean to turn this into a full-on “gender roles in anime” post, but – wow. Just wow. More and more it seems that Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta is turning into one of those shows I like in spite of itself – or in spite of myself, depending […] Read more

Plot movement is a good thing, generally speaking. If there’s an upside to the fact that Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta is dealing with a ridiculous amount of plot in 12 episodes, it’s that by necessity if nothing else it doesn’t dilly-dally much. The process isn’t always smooth but the […] Read more

War is hell, for sure – but that sure as hell wasn’t war. It was a massacre. For the second week in a row Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta presents us with an episode that far exceeds in execution what it offers in conception. The head-heart divide is very much […] Read more

Raise your hand if you didn’t see that coming. I’m not going to sprain my shoulder patting myself on the back for getting the events of this episode exactly right last week – though I did, right down to the timing and the identity of the deceased. Fact is your […] Read more

Well, that was odd. I’ve made note of the somewhat unorthodox approach to storytelling of Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta – “quite an unusual narrative style” was how I put it past week – and that was certainly in evidence here. Again we have an episode that was quite good […] Read more

There are many ways to put a puzzle together, I suppose. There have been quite a few revelations in Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta, but nothing I’d really call a surprise. All of the exposition has more or less followed the expected course so far, which can either be taken […] Read more

Toaru Hikuushi is more tortoise than hare, but we all know who won that race. After a Fall season that had a decidedly retro feel to it, we haven’t too much this season that evokes that old-school feel – it’s mostly been an unambitious sampler platter featuring the various flavors […] Read more